On August 23, the market maker Wintermute raised its short positions on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, increasing from $146.19 million to $190.77 million. According to analysts from Onchain Lens, this represents an addition of about $44.58 million in shorts since the last observation.
WINTERMUTE IS DOUBLING DOWN ON SHORTS WHILE MOVING HUGE FUNDS TO BINANCE 🐻
They have deposited millions more into Hyperliquid and increased their short exposure from $146.19M to $190.77M, adding ~$44.58M in shorts since our last update.
Top 5 short positions:
• $ETH: $53.02M… https://t.co/300FjXrgWv pic.twitter.com/Z79o7Fbj76
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) August 23, 2026
The largest short positions are held in Ethereum ($53.02 million) and Bitcoin ($30.66 million), followed by:
- Solana — $22.62 million;
- HYPE — $11.43 million;
- XRP — $10.19 million.
Three Firms Hold $603 Million in Shorts on BTC and ETH
Meanwhile, specialists from Lookonchain noted that following the recent market surge, primary short positions are now concentrated in the hedging accounts of institutional players.
It seems that all the big whales have been liquidated in this price surge!
Currently, the largest short positions on the blockchain are held by market makers' hedging accounts.
Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute collectively hold short positions of 138,569… pic.twitter.com/0CtuNkWHbI
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 24, 2026
Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute together held short positions of 138,569 ETH valued at approximately $338 million and 3,425 BTC worth $265 million, bringing the total to $603 million.
According to Lookonchain, during the rally, many shorts from other participants faced liquidation, leaving these three firms with the largest remaining short positions.
Among them, Abraxas reported the highest unrealized loss, around $58 million across four Bitcoin and Ethereum positions, while Fasanara was down approximately $16.6 million. Wintermute's positions in the top two cryptocurrencies were close to breakeven at the time of reporting.
Moreover, the liquidation levels for these shorts are significantly above the current coin prices. For two of Abraxas's positions in Ethereum, the liquidation prices are $4,008 and $3,958, while for Bitcoin, they are $128,521 and $140,437. For Wintermute, the liquidation price for Bitcoin is around $251,307.
As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $78,100, while the leading altcoin hovers around $2,500.
Hourly chart of BTC/USDT on Binance. Source: TradingView. Hourly chart of ETH/USDT on Binance. Source: TradingView.It's worth noting that from August 17 to 23, Bitcoin's price surged by $14,264, marking the largest weekly increase on record. Matt Cole, CEO of Strive, pointed to signs indicating the end of the bear market.